25 Video Game Violence Studies, Summarized

With video games so consistently a topic in the mass media’s examinations of the recent Sandy Hook shooting, we decided to take a look at the studies that try to determine what effect—if any—video games have on violent or aggressive behavior. President Obama made a call for more studies, providing the CDC with $10 million…

Wii U’s Need For Speed: Most Wanted Will Have Co-Op Driving

Here’s a feature for the March 19 Wii U version of last fall’s acclaimed racing game Need for Speed Most Wanted that wasn’t in the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions. From an EA press release: …an all new local co-op mode, Co-Driver, one player drives using the Wii Remote controller or Wii U Pro…

Final Fantasy: All the Bravest is $46 of In-App Purchases Looking for a Game

If you’re looking for a mildly interactive trip through the history of the Final Fantasy franchise and don’t mind shelling out a little more than $50 for the complete experience, Final Fantasy: All the Bravest might be a justifiable purchase. If you’re just in it for the gameplay you can save a lot of time…

Valve Considers Resubmitting Left 4 Dead 2 for Australian Classification

You may remember that, nearly four years ago, Australia’s classification board refused to classify Left 4 Dead 2, effectively banning it from sale in the country. At the time, Australia’s ratings system for video games topped out at MA15+, which basically means suitable for teenagers. Valve released a highly sanitized version of the game just…

Halo 2‘s PC Multiplayer Shuts Off Feb. 15

With the population peaking “consistently at approximately 20 players or less,” Halo 2‘s PC multiplayer has been given one month to live. 343 Industries yesterday said the servers will be turned off on Feb. 15. If you remember the last time something like this happened, in 2010, as Microsoft was retiring support for the original…

This Easter Egg From The Latest Borderlands 2 DLC Might Give You An STD

Beware: spoilers for hidden secrets in Borderlands 2‘s latest DLC—Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt—follow. Also STDs might follow, so, you know, beware that, too. Now that we got that out of the way, prepare yourself for The Clap, as presented to you by GameFront, the finders of all things hidden. I need one of these…

PlayStation Germany Lists Seemingly Next-Gen Star Wars 1313 For PS3 [UPDATE: Not anymore!]

For some reason, the official Facebook page for PlayStation in Germany listed Star Wars 1313 as an upcoming game for PS3 today. We’re asking them and LucasArts why, because this is a bit of a surprise and may very well be what we in America call a typo. Star Wars 1313 and its out-of-this-world graphics…

This Week’s Windows Phone Charts: In With the Old, Out With the New

It’s not that the Windows Phone platform isn’t getting new games—it’s just that the older ones are just that good. We’ll run with that as the weekly Windows Phone charts return sleeker, sexier and more 5-hittier than ever before. Getting rid of the extraneous images and wonky formatting that previously made the weekly charts such…

Wii U Launch Line-Up Dries Up As Several Big Games Slip

As with just about every other major console that has ever launched, promises and plans for the Wii U’s first few months are thinning into the reality of a system plagued with a lack of early releases. Today, Nintendo announced looming Wii U release dates for a couple of major games for their new console,…

Nintendo Spring Line-Up Brings Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon to 3DS on March 24

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon comes to the 3DS on March 24, one highlight among several release dates Nintendo announced for its spring lineup this morning. Additionally, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity arrives in North America on the same date. (It released in Japan in November.) Other dates given in the lineup have LEGO City…

Bow Before Your New God Of Ninja Turtles Cosplay

There can’t be many harder characters to cosplay as than Krang, the wonderfully bizarre villain from the original TMNT animated series. Partly for his size, yeah, but also for the fact he’s a talking brain who lives in a giant clear tank right where a human’s guts are supposed to be. Which should make accurate…

Anime Director Satoshi Kon’s Posthumous Work Machine That Dreams May End As Dream

Anime director Satoshi Kon passed away on August 24th, 2010 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier the same year. Kon was famous for his anime movies: PERFECT BLUE, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprica. His death was felt by the entire anime community. Many, including myself, wept upon reading his last words, written on…

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be out worldwide some time this fall on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

I’m Really Looking Forward To Becoming A God In This Japanese Dungeon Crawler

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Nippon Ichi Software, makers of the the Disgaea series, will be releasing Kamisama to Unmei Kakumei no Paradokusu (The Paradox of God and the Fate Revolution) on the PS3 next week. The game was announced last year, and was originally slated to hit stores in Japan on December 20th, but was…

The Number Of Pirates Arrested In Japan Since October Might Surprise You

Well, it’s been 3 months since Japan’s own version of SOPA was passed. For those unfamiliar or cannot be bothered to research: in October, the copying of copy-protected and encoded materials, the sale of software and hardware that circumvents copy or access protection, and the intentional download of illegally uploaded materials were deemed illegal and…

Bandai Namco games is working with Tencent Games to release a Naruto online game for China.

Report: Two Foxconn Buses Crash, Killing Seven

This afternoon in China’s Zhengzhou, a pair of Foxconn buses were involved in a fatal crash. According to reports, at least seven were tragically killed, and twenty were injured. One bus was hit hard enough to be knocked on its side. Foxconn assembles a wide array of hardware, from the iPhone to the Wii U…

Sony Settles with Kevin Butler Actor Over Wii Brouhaha

Jerry Lambert, who played phony Sony exec Kevin Butler, has reached an agreement with Sony. The actor appeared in a Bridgestone ad, playing a rival game console, the Nintendo Wii. Media Post (via Eurogamer) reports that Lambert agreed that his contract with Sony excluded him from promoting rival game machines, and that doing so was…

Get a Good Look at Killer Is Dead, the New Game from Killer7’s Creator

Killer Is Dead is an upcoming action game from Grasshopper Manufacture, the folks behind No More Heroes and Killer7. Yesterday, loads of details about the game hit the net (along with blurry magazine pics), and today on Famitsu.com, we finally get a good look at the game. And it looks great. 『KILLER IS DEAD（キラー イズ…

Once Again, Japan and America Apparently Have Different Taste in Men

Last summer, Japanese love simulator Be My Princess was re-released for Westerners. It wasn’t only the language that was changed. The princes were, too. Voltage Entertainment, the folks behind that game, is once again bringing one of their Japanese dating sims to the West. Nemuranu Machi no Cinderella (眠らぬ街のシンデレラ) is getting localized as Glass Stilettos…